Regional Dialogue on the New Landscape of Peacekeeping Operations

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh delivered the opening speech at the Workshop. (Photo: Thanh Long/USSH)

The workshop was attended by many scientists, political activists, and diplomats from home and abroad.

On the Vietnamese side, there were Mr. Hoang Chi Trung (Director of the Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam), Mr. Bui The Giang (Director of the Department of Europe-America, Central Party Committee for External Relations), Ms. Ton Nu Thi Ninh (Former Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vice President of the Peace Committee, Vietnam Association of Friendship Organizations)... and delegates from universities and research institutes.

On the international guest side, there were Ms. Edelgard Bulmahn (Vice President of the German Federal Parliament), Ms. Jutta Frasch (Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam), Mr. Natalio C Ecarma III (Deputy Minister of National Defense, Philippines), Ms. Eiko Ikegaya (Department of Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations)... and delegates from the University of New South Wales (Australia), the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany, Heidelberg University (Germany), the International Peace Operations Center of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Far Eastern University (Korea), the International Peace Research Institute (Sweden), the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (Germany), the Bali Peace and Democracy Academy (Indonesia)...

Ms. Edelgard Bulmahn (Vice President of the German Federal Parliament) spoke at the Workshop. (Photo: Jackie Chan/USSH)

Ms. Ton Nu Thi Ninh speaks at the Workshop. (Photo: Thanh Long/USSH)

In June 2013, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung officially announced: Vietnam is ready to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations. And this statement was reaffirmed to the leaders of other countries when the Prime Minister attended the general discussion of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 27, 2013. With this decision, Vietnam demonstrates its responsibility as a member country, contributing to an area that Vietnam attaches great importance to: maintaining international peace and security.

In that context, this international conference aims to provide a deeper insight into the activities, perspectives and experiences of peacekeeping operations from different perspectives and approaches; point out new contexts and challenges for peacekeeping operations; new trends in regional and international cooperation in this activity and experiences for Vietnam.

The workshop includes main sessions:

* “A Changing World Order – Implications for the Future of Peacekeeping?”:suggest and provide opinions on future challenges to international peace and regional security and their implications for the future of peace operations.

* “Rules and concepts - a fragile consensus?”:exchange of existing norms and concepts on issues of conflict, intervention and peacekeeping operations. What specific perspectives are there on norms and concepts in the region? How do these existing perspectives relate to each other or differ, and why might the differences affect the future of peace operations? Will new norms and concepts be introduced?

* “Objectives of participation: Political aspects and interests of the participating parties”:assess how participation in peacekeeping operations fits into the broader foreign policy objectives of countries in the Southeast Asian region. What are the motivations for participation? Are they guided by political, normative or economic considerations? Key questions to ask are: what are the primary domestic or foreign policy objectives of governments in the region in participating in peacekeeping operations?; do we anticipate a change in these objectives in the future?

* “The New Peacekeeping Landscape: Peace Operations Version 2.0?”:explore the prerequisites and requirements for countries and organizations in the Southeast Asian region to support UN peacekeeping operations. The issues discussed were: What are the challenges for UN peacekeeping operations? How can they be addressed? How can the current commitments of countries in the Southeast Asian region be maintained or enhanced? What can countries contribute?

* “ASEAN and peace activities”:explores the current potential and possible roles that ASEAN can play in managing regional and global conflicts in the future. Key topics include: What role does ASEAN currently play in the Southeast Asian regional security architecture and how has that role changed in recent years? What role will ASEAN and the UN play in peacekeeping operations both regionally and internationally in the future? How will ASEAN’s capacity and structure change to implement peacekeeping operations?